Shares in Asia gain as China consumer prices edge higher

Investing.com - Shares in China, Australia and Japan gained in Asia on Friday as data sets helped sentiment.

The Shanghai Composite jumped 1.4% as consumer prices showed a slight gain, while top trading partner Australia also rose with the S&P/ASX 200 up 0.39%. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.12% after Japan said bank lending data for March showed a 2.7% gain year-on-year.

In China, consumer prices rose 1.4% year-on-year in March, more than an expected 1.3% gain, while producer prices eased fell 4.6%, the 37th straight decline.

But Australia housing finance data for February showed a 1.2% gain, well below a 3.0% month-on-month rise expected.

Overnight, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Healthcare and Industrials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.31%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.45%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.48%.

Greece fulfilled an obligation to repay an €450 million loan to the International Monetary Fund on Thursday, but the euro continued its descent against the dollar as IMF head Christine Lagarde sidestepped questions on whether she believes Athens will default on its next series of payments.

Speaking with CNBC on Thursday afternoon, Lagarde did not say definitively if she thinks Greece will default on a repayment of more than €769 early next month. The loan is due to the international financial organization on May 11, as part of its first bailout program for Greece in 2010.

Greece is continuing talks with its troika of creditors, the IMF, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Commission in an effort to receive a stimulus package that could help the beleaguered European nation stave off bankruptcy.

"I think what really matters is for the Greek authorities and the three institutions to get to work and to really see together how we can identify the measures we will take to get Greece out of the bad economic situation it could be in if those measures are not taken," Lagarde told CNBC. "At the end of the day it's about making sure Greece has full sovereignty over its economic fate."

While Lagarde warned against the consequences of a potential Greek departure from the European Union, she reiterated that the area is better shape to guard against a default than it was during the IMF's initial bailout.

"I think it would be a terrible situation for the Greek people, equally I think that the firewalls, the banking union and the strengthened fiscal union have put the euro zone in a much stronger position than where it was four years ago."

Also on Thursday, the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose from 46.2 to 47.9 last week, the highest level since May, 2007.